Folk Music by Seasonistas

Tootler

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If you want to post folk songs that don't fit the current season theme, this is the place.

The thread is not only for traditional folk songs but for anything folk related so include contemporary songs that have been written in folk style as well as traditional material. I also hope to see a few instrumentals as well.
 
Folk songs: old songs passed by mouth with no known composer.

This is a collection of folk and traditional songs in English from England, Ireland, Scotland and various other places.

Bright Blue Rose
Down by the Glenside
Down by the Salley Gardens
Four Green Fields
I am not at war with anyone
Hard Times (Come Again No More)
Molly Malone
Place in the Choir
Red is the Rose
The Streets of London
Will Ye Go Lassie? (Wild Mountain Thyme)
 
Here's some revival folk songs from the 60's+.
The 100 Essential Folk Songs

1. "This Land Is Your Land" - Woody Guthrie
2. "Blowin' in the Wind" - Bob Dylan
3. "City of New Orleans" - Steve Goodman
4. "If I Had a Hammer" - Pete Seeger
5. "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" - The Kingston Trio
6. "Early Morning Rain" - Gordon Lightfoot
7. "Suzanne" - Leonard Cohen
8. "We Shall Overcome" - Pete Seeger
9. "Four Strong Winds" - Ian and Sylvia
10. "Last Thing on My Mind" - Tom Paxton
11. "The Circle Game" - Joni Mitchell
12. "Tom Dooley" - The Kingston Trio (Trad)
13. "Both Sides Now" - Joni Mitchell
14. "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" - Sandy Denny
15. "Goodnight Irene" - The Weavers (Trad)
16. "Universal Soldier" - Buffy Sainte-Marie
17. "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" - Bob Dylan
18. "Diamonds and Rust" - Joan Baez
19. "Sounds of Silence" - Simon & Garfunkel
20. "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" - Gordon Lightfoot
21. "Alice's Restaurant" - Arlo Guthrie
22. "Turn, Turn, Turn!" - The Byrds (Pete Seeger)
23. "Puff the Magic Dragon" - Peter, Paul and Mary
24. "Thirsty Boots" - Eric Anderson
25. "There But for Fortune" - Phil Ochs
26. "Across the Great Divide" - Kate Wolf
27. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" - The Band (Robbie Robertson)
28. "The Dutchman" - Steve Goodman
29. "Matty Groves" - Fairport Convention (Trad)
30. "Pastures of Plenty" - Woody Guthrie
31. "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" - Gordon Lightfoot
32. "Ramblin' Boy" - Tom Paxton
33. "Hello in There" - John Prine
34. "The Mary Ellen Carter" - Stan Rogers
35. "Scarborough Fair" - Martin Carthy (Trad)
36. "Freight Train" - Elizabeth Cotton
37. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
38. "Paradise" - John Prine
39. "Northwest Passage" - Stan Rogers
40. "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" - Eric Bogle
41. "Changes" - Phil Ochs
42. "Streets of London" - Ralph McTell
43. "Gentle on My Mind" - John Hartford
44. "Barbara Allen" - Shirley Collins (Trad)
45. "Little Boxes" - Malvina Reynolds
46. "The Water Is Wide" - Traditional
47. "Blue Moon of Kentucky" - Bill Monroe
48. "No Regrets" - Tom Rush
49. "Amazing Grace" - Odetta (Trad)
50. "Catch the Wind" - Donovan
51. "If I Were a Carpenter" - Tim Hardin
52. "Big Yellow Taxi" - Joni Mitchell
53. "House of the Rising Sun" - Doc & Richard Watson (Trad)
54. "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" - The Weavers
55. "Tangled Up in Blue" - Bob Dylan
56. "The Boxer" - Simon and Garfunkel
57. "Someday Soon" - Ian and Sylvia
58. "Miles" - Peter, Paul and Mary
59. "Masters of War" - Bob Dylan
60. "Wildwood Flower" - Carter Family
61. "Can the Circle Be Unbroken" - Carter Family
62. "Can't Help but Wonder Where I'm Bound" - Tom Paxton
63. "Teach Your Children" - Crosby, Stills Nash & Young
64. "Deportee" - Woody Guthrie
65. "Tecumseh Valley" - Townes Van Zandt
66. "Mr. Bojangles" - Jerry Jeff Walker
67. "Cold Missouri Waters" - James Keeleghan
68. "The Crucifixion" - Phil Ochs
69. "Angel from Montgomery" - John Prine
70. "Christmas in the Trenches" - John McCutcheon
71. "John Henry" - Traditional
72. "Pack Up Your Sorrows" - Richard and Mimi Farina
73. "Dirty Old Town" - Ewan MacColl
74. "Caledonia" - Dougie MacLean
75. "Gentle Arms of Eden" - Dave Carter
76. "My Back Pages" - Bob Dylan
77. "Arrow" - Cheryl Wheeler
78. "Hallelujah" - Leonard Cohen
79. "Eve of Destruction" - Barry McGuire
80. "Man of Constant Sorrow" - Ralph Stanley (Trad)
81. "Shady Grove" - Traditional
82. "Pancho and Lefty" - Townes Van Zandt
83. "Old Man" - Neil Young
84. "Mr. Tambourine Man" - Bob Dylan
85. "American Tune" - Paul Simon
86. "At Seventeen" - Janis Ian
87. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" - Simon & Garfunkel
88. "Road" - Nick Drake
89. "Tam Lin" - Fairport Convention (Trad)
90. "Ashokan Farewell" - Jay Ungar and Molly Mason
91. "Desolation Row" - Bob Dylan
92. "Love Is Our Cross to Bear" - John Gorka
93. "Hobo's Lullaby" - Woody Guthrie
94. "Urge for Going" - Tom Rush
95. "Return of the Grievous Angel" - Gram Parsons
96. "Chilly Winds" - The Kingston Trio
97. "Fountain of Sorrow" - Jackson Browne
98. "The Times They Are A-Changin'" - Bob Dylan
99. "Our Town" - Iris Dement
100. "Leaving on a Jet Plane" - John Denver
 
Folk songs: old songs passed by mouth with no known composer.

This is a collection of folk and traditional songs in English from England, Ireland, Scotland and various other places.


Hard Times (Come Again No More)

Sorry, but this song was written by Stephen Foster, and first published in 1854.
and

The Streets of London



The Streets of London was written by Ralph McTell.


-Kurt​
 
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It was just a suggestion for folk and traditional songs. Nothing concrete. The definition for "folk" songs is kind of confusing :) I know I didn't know the exact definition so I thought others might benefit from a list of songs.
Sorry, but this song was written by Stephen Foster, and first published in 1854.
and





The Streets of London was written by Ralph McTell.


-Kurt​
 
It was just a suggestion for folk and traditional songs. Nothing concrete. The definition for "folk" songs is kind of confusing :) I know I didn't know the exact definition so I thought others might benefit from a list of songs.

What exactly constitutes a folk song is the subject of heated debate among some in the folk song world. The definition you gave is probably as good as any for a brief definition though the boundaries are hazy as with any musical genre. The waters were muddied further by singers in the folk revival writing their own songs in a style which is similar to traditional songs. Some of these songs have subsequently been credited on recordings in in book collections as traditional even though the authored is still alive. I am always careful in my You Tube videos to try and give proper credit to folk songs but it's not always easy.

As someone who goes regularly to.folk song clubs in the UK I hear three main types of song.

i) Traditional songs
ii) songs of modern composition in "folk style"
iii) Music Hall songs which were popular songs of the late 19th & early 20th century and is, I think, a specifically UK Tradition.
 
What exactly constitutes a folk song is the subject of heated debate among some in the folk song world. The definition you gave is probably as good as any for a brief definition though the boundaries are hazy as with any musical genre. The waters were muddied further by singers in the folk revival writing their own songs in a style which is similar to traditional songs. Some of these songs have subsequently been credited on recordings in in book collections as traditional even though the authored is still alive. I am always careful in my You Tube videos to try and give proper credit to folk songs but it's not always easy.

As someone who goes regularly to.folk song clubs in the UK I hear three main types of song.

i) Traditional songs
ii) songs of modern composition in "folk style"
iii) Music Hall songs which were popular songs of the late 19th & early 20th century and is, I think, a specifically UK Tradition.

About the same time the UK audiences were in Music Hall Theatres the American public was enjoying that which the US had on offer which they called Vaudeville......now whether or not the two had any similarity I don't know ...there must have been some cross-overs .
 
About the same time the UK audiences were in Music Hall Theatres the American public was enjoying that which the US had on offer which they called Vaudeville......now whether or not the two had any similarity I don't know ...there must have been some cross-overs .

I'm pretty sure American Vaudeville artists toured over here but I don't know if Music Hall artists went the other way. I was hoping our US Friends would be able to tell us more about Vaudeville. I had to cut short my post this morning as I was about to set off home from my Father's & was just waiting for my daughter to finish packing.
 
Thanks Geoff for getting this started. Heres an American Folk song by Elizabeth Cotton. She wrote this when she was about 12 years old.
Her story is a great one I think.

Freight Train~
 
For Bobby (John Denver). For Baby ( Peter, Paul and Mary). Genre; Folk.

For Bobby~
 
So glad to hear this one again. You did such a nice job.

I think it's funny and appropriate that, just like in the folk era, we have spent more time here discussing what Folk music is or SHOULD BE than we do singing it, JUST LIKE BACK THEN! I actually deleted a comment like that that I made here early on when I realized that I could be causing more rhetoric and less singing.

Another great Folk song.

Gypsy Rover or Whistling Gypsy Rover~
 
So glad to hear this one again. You did such a nice job.

I think it's funny and appropriate that, just like in the folk era, we have spent more time here discussing what Folk music is or SHOULD BE than we do singing it, JUST LIKE BACK THEN! I actually deleted a comment like that that I made here early on when I realized that I could be causing more rhetoric and less singing.

It's still going on. You only have to be a regular on the Mudcat Cafe forum to know that. OTOH, at folk clubs we mostly just get on with singing and playing and discussion on the music is more about the actual songs and performances than whether or not they are folk.
 
Thanks Geoff for getting this started. Heres an American Folk song by Elizabeth Cotton. She wrote this when she was about 12 years old.
Her story is a great one I think.

Freight Train~


Loved your version, Linda.

I found a You Tube Clip of Elizabeth Cotten playing Freight Train and used it in my intro video for season 25 where the theme was train songs. http://youtu.be/IUK8emiWabU
 
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